Ammunition and hand grenades found inside Red Fort

As the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was conducting a routine clean-up operation inside the Red Fort in Delhi, it stumbled upon a huge cache of ammunition and hand grenades. The police officials were immediately informed, who in turn alerted the bomb squad and the National Security Guard (NSG). The ammunition and grenades were found in an area inside Red Fort, where people normally do not go very often. It appears that the ammunition was purposely kept hidden from public view. The security agencies have reached the spot and are carrying out a detailed investigation.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) is flummoxed with this development, as it does not have any intelligence input related to this cache of ammunition inside Red Fort. Preliminary investigations reveal that these are old ammunition. Some security officials suspect that these may have been accidently left behind by soldiers, as the Red Fort was earlier occupied by the Indian Army. However, security officials are not taking any chances and are going forward with a detailed investigation.

It may be recalled that on August 15 last year, PM Modi had addressed the nation from Red Ford. This raises serious questions about the security apparatus currently deployed at the Red Fort. Experts say that police officials should have been more thorough while scanning the area for potential security threats.